On a sunny day about a year ago*, when I hadn't yet decided to lay off candy, I bought a fair trade chocolate bar. Of course I thought that, when I'd bought this bar, that the world would be saved from all its environmental issues and unfair work conditions. But I was proved wrong.
I sat down at a table with my friends and unwrapped, what I thought was the only paper around the chocolate bar I'd just bought. But when the paper was gone I saw that all the rows of the bar were wrapped in paper. why? why do you have to waste paper by wrapping every single row? Isn't Fairtrade supposed to be an environmentally friendly brand?, I thought.
Since I'm no expert on fair trade, I looked it up. And for a product to be “Fairtrade” it has to fulfill following criteria (this is a summary):
- Farmers and employees get improved economical conditions
- child labour and discrimination is counteracted
- Democracy and the right of organization is promoted
- The local society develops socially and economically
- environmental concerns and organic production is promoted.
| So though they would like too call themselves environmentally friendly, they use paper as if it grows on trees. Well now it is so, that paper in fact comes from trees and therefore you could actually say that it kind of grows on trees, but that's not the point. The point is that we shouldn't use more material that necessary. Even if paper is recyclable, how many of the people who buy this chocolate bar will actually recycle the paper? My guess would be that most of them throw it in the nearest trash can or simply on the ground.
It's time to realize that humans are the worlds laziest creatures in the world. We always take the easiest way. Yes I'm talking about people in general, of course there are people who prefer to take the right and the little bit more complicated way instead of the easy one. But why should we bother the citizens of earth by making them walk to the nearest trash can to throw away a (actually about four-five) piece of paper that wasn't even necessary in the first place?
Fairtrade is a good thing, I mean anyone who tries to make the world a better place, the right way, must have a good impact on our world. But if someone wants too call themselves environmentally friendly, and even if they don't, it is unnecessary to use more material then required. |
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| Do you like paper? |
I want to finish by saying: way to go fair trade, you're doing a great job.
You do definitely not get the “lazy people label” from me.
*= As I said it was quite a long time ago I bought the chocolate, there may not be as much surrounding paper today.
